Fans line up for an Amateur Mixed Martial Arts event at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany Saturday Aug. 11, 2012. Beretz went on to win. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Fans line up for an Amateur Mixed Martial Arts event at the...

Fighters work with instructors during a training session Friday Aug. 10, 2012, at Atlas Jiu Jitsu in Colonie, N.Y., where Assembly candidate Tim Nichols announced that he would allow Mixed Martial Arts in the state. Nichols is the former chief of staff for Bob Reilly who was noted for his oppositions to allowing MMA events in New York. (Will Waldron / Times Union)

Fighters work with instructors during a training session Friday...

Fighters work with instructors during a training session Friday Aug. 10, 2012, at Atlas Jiu Jitsu in Colonie, N.Y., where Assembly candidate Tim Nichols announced that he would allow Mixed Martial Arts in the state. Nichols is the former chief of staff for Bob Reilly who was noted for his oppositions to allowing MMA events in New York. (Will Waldron / Times Union)

Fighters work with instructors during a training session Friday...

Fighters work with instructors during a training session Friday Aug. 10, 2012, at Atlas Jiu Jitsu in Colonie, N.Y., where Assembly candidate Tim Nichols announced that he would allow Mixed Martial Arts in the state. Nichols is the former chief of staff for Bob Reilly who was noted for his oppositions to allowing MMA events in New York. (Will Waldron / Times Union)

Fighters work with instructors during a training session Friday...

Fighters work with instructors during a training session Friday Aug. 10, 2012, at Atlas Jiu Jitsu in Colonie, N.Y., where Assembly candidate Tim Nichols announced that he would allow Mixed Martial Arts in the state. Nichols is the former chief of staff for Bob Reilly who was noted for his oppositions to allowing MMA events in New York. (Will Waldron / Times Union)

Fighters work with instructors during a training session Friday...

Assembly candidate Tim Nichols announced Friday Aug. 10, 2012, at Atlas Jiu Jitsu in Colonie, N.Y., that he would allow Mixed Martial Arts in the state. Nichols is the former chief of staff for Bob Reilly who was noted for his oppositions to allowing MMA events in New York. (Will Waldron / Times Union)

Drops of blood are pictured on the arena canvas during the Cage Rage Championship 20 Born to fight event at Wembley Arena on February 10, 2007 in London, England. Cage Fighting also known as MMA, Mixed Martial Arts is a mixed fighting style combat sport with a steadily growing international fan base. MMA is an evolving combat sport where competitors combine different disciplines that include jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and others to their strategic and tactical advantage in a competetive arena. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

What has become a perennial debate at the Capitol will kick off this week when a state Senate committee takes up a bill that would legalize the spectator combat sport popularized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship league. New York and Connecticut are the only states that ban professional bouts, though amateur fights have taken place in various parts of the Empire State.

A corps of senior legislators, mostly Democrats in the conference that dominates the Assembly, has blocked professional MMA fights because of moral objections and, according to the sport's backers, as a result of a dispute between the UFC's owners and a Las Vegas labor union. But as the UFC celebrates its 20th anniversary later this year, its fans and backers emphasize that MMA bouts are now well-regulated and an increasingly mainstream attraction, having crept from pay-per-view to broadcast networks.

"It's economics: These bouts will sell out," said Steve Greenberg, UFC's New York spokesman. "It is jobs for the people who work in these arenas. It is jobs and economic development for the bars, the restaurants and the hotels. UFC's fans travel. They're not just coming into town for three hours."

It's the same argument Greenberg has made for the past half-dozen years. But he and supportive legislators have taken several steps to aid the bill's chances of passing this year.

The Assembly Democratic conference has changed since last year, with several prominent MMA opponents — including Democrat Assemblyman Bob Reilly of Colonie and Majority Leader Ron Canestrari — retiring. Canestrari was succeeded as the chamber's majority leader by Rochester Assemblyman Joe Morelle, an MMA supporter who is expected to once again sponsor the bill. So far, though, there is no pending legislation in the Assembly; Morelle did not return a call seeking comment.

A bill legalizing the sport has enjoyed bipartisan support in the Senate, where it has passed three times. That chamber, now controlled by a Republican-dominated coalition, has scheduled a bill by Sen. Joe Griffo, R-Rome, for consideration by a committee on Thursday.

"There was some very vocal opposition before that seems not to be as vocal (now)," he said, noting the tally of yes votes has increased as the Senate has repassed the bill.

Still, Griffo said he plans to introduce a companion bill that would subject amateur MMA fights to regulation by the state's Athletic Commission, which would also be charged with regulating professional bouts under the main bill. That legislation is being drafted.

And perhaps recognizing that money talks in New York's political process, Zuffa LLC, the parent company of UFC, has increased its political donations sixfold in the past four years, from $35,000 in the 2007-2008 campaign cycle to more than $200,000 in 2011-2012. Half that money has gone to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, who has banked $105,000 from Zuffa since December 2010. The governor's campaign war chest now holds more than $22 million.

Cuomo has not stated a position on legalizing MMA, other than joking to journalists that he would welcome them as gladiators in his office. A Cuomo spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, did not offer an updated position on Monday.

It is common for major players on state issues to increase their political giving. Greenberg said the contributions represent a fraction of UFC's multibillion-dollar operation that "contributes in states across this nation and participates in the political process, as do other sports leagues, other unions and other private companies."

It's unclear whether a bill will come to the Assembly floor, where supporters expressed confidence it would pass with the support of Republicans and many Democrats, especially younger members. But Democrats control the flow of legislation, and Speaker Sheldon Silver has in the past deferred to the concerns of some members, including Queens Assemblyman Cathy Nolan and Manhattan Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell.

"There has been a lot opposition to this from a variety of people through the years, including many of the women," O'Donnell said. "I will not be commenting because there is no bill that is pending in my house."

Silver's spokesman, Mike Whyland, said he would "review" any legislation.

Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, said he had spoken to professional boxers who dismissed MMA as "not a sport" because fighters are allowed to kick and grapple in addition to punching and they force their opponent to submit during fights.

But others note that MMA is already everywhere in New York. Their question: Why not legalize it and, as Griffo's bill does, take a portion of ticket receipts for state coffers?

"There's rarely a sports bar you can't go into and see it. You can order it on pay-per-view," said Assemblyman Matt Titone, D-Staten Island. "It's here — it's just not live from New York. If we already have it, I don't see why we shouldn't profit from it."